Carrie Hope Fletcher will take on the gun-toting title character in a revival of the Watermill Theatre’s whip-crackin’ production Calamity Jane early next year.
The triple WhatsOnStage Best Actress in a Musical Award-winner will take on the iconic role when the production takes to the road for a UK and Ireland tour from January 2025 ahead of a West End run.
Commenting on her next major role, the actress who originated the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella and also starred in Heathers, The Addams Family and Les Misérables, said: “Calamity Jane is one of those roles that doesn’t come around all too often. She’s action, romance and comedy all packed into one character, and I can’t wait to take on the challenge of filling her shoes!”
Marking a decade since the show’s debut, the production will reunite the previous creative team with direction by Leicester Curve’s artistic director Nikolai Foster, co-direction and choreography by Nick Winston, orchestration and music supervision by Catherine Jayes and set and costume design by Matthew Wright. The new production will have lighting design by Tim Mitchell, sound design by Ben Harrison and casting by Debbie O’Brien.
Announcing the tour, producer Jamie Wilson said: “With this new version of Calamity Jane first opening at the Watermill Theatre in 2014, I am delighted to be collaborating with them again to finally bring this wonderful production back to theatres all over the country after a 10-year absence.
“We have been waiting for the right moment and artist to step into Calamity’s boots and bring this hilarious and joyful musical back to the nation, and we are thrilled that Carrie Hope Fletcher will be leading the company as the iconic Calamity Jane. Carrie is one of the UK’s most talented artists whose broad fan base will introduce this much beloved musical to audiences across the country.”
Calamity Jane will open at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre from 14-18 January 2025, before visiting the Manchester Opera House, Southend Cliffs Pavilion, Sunderland Empire, New Victoria Woking, Leeds Grand Theatre, Wales Millennium Centre, Birmingham Hippodrome, Nottingham Theatre Royal, Brighton Theatre Royal, Norwich Theatre Royal, Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Liverpool Empire, York Grand Theatre, New Wimbledon Theatre, Canterbury Marlowe, Southampton Mayflower, Sheffield Lyceum, Stoke Regent Theatre, Blackpool Opera House, Glasgow Kings, Curve Leicester, Plymouth Theatre Royal, Milton Keynes Theatre, Truro Hall For Cornwall, Dublin Bord Gais, Llandudno Venue Cymru, Bradford Alhambra, Wolverhampton Grand and Bromley Churchill Theatre.
One of Hollywood superstar Doris Day’s best-loved films, Calamity Jane featured the golden-voiced actress opposite Golden Age musical stalwart Howard Keel in a raucous romantic musical comedy loosely based on the fabled relationship between Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok.
An adaptation of the 1953 film, the stage musical premiered in Texas in 1961. The musical features the famous songs from the film including ‘The Deadwood Stage (Whip-Crack-Away)’, ‘The Black Hills of Dakota’, ‘Just Blew in from the Windy City’ and the Oscar-winning ‘Secret Love’.
Calamity Jane was adapted for the stage by Charles K. Freeman from a screenplay by James O’Hanlon, produced by Warner Bros. The music is by Sammy Fain, with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster and orchestral and vocal arrangements by Philip J Lang.
Stars of previous UK productions of the musical include Barbara Windsor, Gemma Craven, Toyah Wilcox, Louise Gold and Jodie Prenger, who took the lead in the 2014 Watermill production.
Angela Thomas
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